NEWTOWN, Conn. - Michael Kehoe doesn't want his 37-year career with Connecticut's Newtown Police Department defined by one event, but that's difficult when your sleepy suburban town of 28,000 people was the site of one of the country's deadliest school shootings.

In an Associated Press interview, the 60-year-old police chief reflected recently on his decades of service. He retires Wednesday.

He says there's no denying the magnitude of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 20 children and six educators, but he'll also remember the important work he put in all those other days, including preventing crime and teaching students to avoid drugs.

Kehoe was among the first officers to enter the school after the shooting. He says the town has rebounded well since then but may not ever completely heal.